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Sorbitol Dehydrogenase

aka Iditol Dehydrogenase

SDH , ID, SD

SDH is one of the "hepatocellular leakage enzymes". They leak out of damaged liver cells and find their way into your pet's blood whenever substantial liver pathology has occurred. The others are ALT, AST, SDH and GLDH.

Sorbitol dehydrogenas assay (SDH) is the least
common leakage enzyme test that veterinarians run on dogs . I don’t know if it is ever run on cats.
The alternative enzyme tests I mentions are generally quite sufficient to identify liver problems in dogs and cats. However, it is a common test for liver injury in livestock where those other tests are less effective.

In dogs and
cats, the same general information on your pet’s liver can be found
in its ALT results. In all species of animals (including you [ref]), SDH is found in
the liver and kidney, but its released into the blood stream seems to
occur only when liver cells are injured. The problem is, it only persists
in your pet’s blood stream for a short period of time and decreases
rapidly in blood samples as they stand. ALT persists much longer after
a liver injury, so in most cases, it is the better choice.

But a possible use for the SDH test in dogs
would be a pet that was injured in an accident and found to have high
ALT and CK blood enzyme levels. Your vet wouldn't be sure if those
increased levels were all due to muscle damage or if the pet’s liver
has some problems before the accident. In that case, a high SDH and ALT levels would indicate the liver
had a prior problem whereas a normal SDH and high ALT would indicate that the
problem was all due to the more recent muscle trauma.

A second scenario would be a dog with high ALT
and confirmed liver disease or damage when the vet wanted to know as
soon as possible if your pet was responding to treatment. In that case,
he would notice a positive response (declining SDH levels) quicker by checking SDH than by checking
ALT. Vice versa, he would know the treatment was not working if both remained
high. Neither SDH nor ALT are good monitors of chronic liver disease in
which permanent liver cell damage has occurred but is not an ongoing process.

Reasons Why Your Dog ’s SDH Level Could Be High :

Sudden damage to your dog’s liver will cause
high SDH levels. However they will drop rapidly after the occurrence. Small
increases have been reported to occur when dogs received corticosteroid
medications.